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Comparative Performance of Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Bagasse and Parkia Biglobosa (Locust Bean) in Wastewater Treatment
Abstract
The application of agricultural by-products for the removal of contaminants in water and wastewater is receiving significant attention as their applications reduce their level of the agricultural by-products in the environment there by reducing pollution. Activated carbons were formed from the saccharum officinarum (sugarcane) bagasse and parkia biglobosa (locust bean) pods and their effectiveness in the treatment of domestic wastewater were compared. The activated carbons were obtained from carbonised sugarcane bagasse and locust beanpod at a temperature of 350-500oC, followed by the modification with phosphoric acid for 12-18 hours. The result revealed that the parkia biglobosa recorded higher removal efficiencies of: Turbidity, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and nitrate than the saccharum officinarum. The parkia biglobosa recorded BOD removal efficiencies of: 77.19, 77.81, 78.13, 87.50, 90.63 and 93.75% at the dosages of: 0.25, 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.75 and 5.00g/500ml, respectively; while the saccharum officinarum recorded removal efficiencies of: 15.63, 25.00, 34.38, 43.44, 46.88 and 65.00% at the same dosages, implying that the parkia biglobosa was more effective than saccharum officinarum. In terms of turbidity, the saccharum officinarum recorded removal efficiencies of: 5.44, 17.86, 31.90, 34.29, 46.51 and 57.02%, respectively at the dosages of: 0.25, 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.75 and 5.00g/500ml; while parkia biglobosa recorded removal efficiencies of: 14.99, 25.50, 37.63, 43.84, 56.07 and 68.39%.The study also revealed that the higher the dosages, the higher the removal efficiencies of the organic and inorganic pollutants. It was recommended that removal of heavy metals using the parkia biglobosa and saccharum officinarum should be studied to ascertain their effectiveness in such dimension.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/njt.v34i4.27